Daft Punk
Daft Punk is a French electronic music duo formed in Paris in 1993 by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement; they also had success in the years following, combining elements of house music with funk, techno, disco, rock and synthpop. They have worn ornate helmets and gloves to assume robot personas in most public appearances since 1999 and rarely grant interviews or appear on television. The duo were managed from 1996 to 2008 by Pedro Winter (also known as Busy P), the head of Ed Banger Records. After Bangalter and Homem-Christo's indie rock band Darlin' disbanded, they began experimenting with drum machines and synthesisers. Their debut studio album Homework was released by Virgin Records in 1997 to positive reviews, backed by singles "Around the World" and "Da Funk". Their second album, Discovery, had further success, supported by hit singles "One More Time", "Digital Love" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". In March 2005, Daft Punk released their third album, Human After All, to mixed reviews, though the singles "Robot Rock" and "Technologic" achieved success in the United Kingdom. Daft Punk toured throughout 2006 and 2007 and released the live album Alive 2007, which won a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. They composed the score for the film Tron: Legacy, which was released in 2010 alongside its soundtrack album. In 2013, Daft Punk left Virgin for Columbia Records, and released their fourth album, Random Access Memories, to acclaim; lead single "Get Lucky" reached the top 10 in the charts of 32 countries. Random Access Memories won five Grammy Awards in 2014, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for "Get Lucky". In 2016, Daft Punk gained their first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with the song "Starboy", a collaboration with The Weeknd. As of 2015, Daft Punk had sold over 12 million albums worldwide. History 1987–1992: Early career Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter met in 1987 while attending the Lycée Carnot secondary school in Paris. The two became friends and recorded demos with others from the school. This led to the formation of a guitar-based group called Darlin' with Laurent Brancowitz in 1992. Bangalter and Homem-Christo played bass and guitar, respectively, while Brancowitz was brought on board after the two sought an additional guitarist. The trio had branded themselves after The Beach Boys song of the same name, which they covered along with an original composition. Both tracks were released on a multi-artist EP under Duophonic Records, a label owned by the London-based band Stereolab, who invited the trio to open for stage shows in the United Kingdom. Bangalter felt that "The rock n' roll thing we did was pretty average, I think. It was so brief, maybe six months, four songs and two gigs and that was it." A negative review in Melody Maker by Dave Jennings subsequently dubbed the music "a daft punky thrash." Instead of dismissing the review, they found it amusing. As Homem-Christo stated, "We struggled so long to find name Darlin', and this happened so quickly." Darlin' soon disbanded, leaving Brancowitz to pursue other efforts with Phoenix. Bangalter and Homem-Christo formed Daft Punk and experimented with drum machines and synthesisers. 1993–1999: Homework In September 1993, Daft Punk attended a rave at EuroDisney, where they met Stuart Macmillan of Slam, co-founder of the label Soma Quality Recordings. The demo tape given to Macmillan at the rave formed the basis for Daft Punk's debut single, "The New Wave", a limited release in 1994. The single also contained the final mix of "The New Wave" called "Alive", which was to be featured on Daft Punk's first album. Daft Punk returned to the studio in May 1995 to record "Da Funk". It became the duo's first commercially successful single the same year. After the success of "Da Funk", Daft Punk looked to find a manager. The duo eventually settled on Pedro Winter, who regularly promoted them and other artists at his Hype night clubs. The band signed with Virgin Records in September 1996 and made a deal through which the duo licensed its tracks to the major label through its production company, Daft Trax. Bangalter stated that while the duo received numerous offers from record labels, they wanted to wait and ensure that Daft Punk did not lose creative control. He ultimately considered the deal with Virgin to be more akin to a partnership. In the mid-to-late nineties, Daft Punk performed live without costumes in many places including the United States. In 1996, the duo were featured at an Even Furthur event in Wisconsin, their first public performance in the U.S. In addition to live original performances, they performed in various clubs using vinyl records from their collection. They were known for incorporating various styles of music into their DJ sets at that time. "Da Funk" and "Alive" were later included on Daft Punk's 1997 debut album Homework. In February of that year, the UK dance magazine Muzik published a Daft Punk cover feature and described Homework as "one of the most hyped debut albums in a long long time." According to The Village Voice, the album revived house music and departed from the Eurodance formula. As noted by critic Alex Rayner, Homework brought together established club styles and the "burgeoning eclecticism" of big beat. In 1997 Daft Punk also launched their Daftendirektour to promote Homework in several cities throughout the world. For this tour the duo used their home studio equipment for the live stage. As Bangalter stated, "Everything was synched up—the drum machines, the bass lines. The sequencer was just sending out the tempos and controlling the beats and bars. On top of this structure we built all these layers of samples and various parts that we could bring in whenever we wanted to." 25 May 1997 saw them perform at the Tribal Gathering festival at Luton Hoo, England, headlining with Orbital and Kraftwerk. The most successful single from Homework was "Around the World", which is known for the repeating chant of the song's title. "Da Funk" was also included on The Saint film soundtrack. Daft Punk produced a series of music videos for Homework directed by Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Roman Coppola and Seb Janiak. The collection of videos was released in 1999 and titled D.A.F.T.: A Story About Dogs, Androids, Firemen and Tomatoes. 1999–2003: Discovery By 1999, the duo was well into the recording sessions for its second album, which had begun a year earlier. The 2001 release of Discovery took on a slicker and distinctly synthpop-oriented style, initially stunning fans of Daft Punk's previous material in Homework. The group states that the album was conceived as an attempt to reconnect with a playful, open-minded attitude associated with the discovery phase of childhood. This accounts for the heavy use of themes and samples from the late '70s to early '80s era on the album. The album reached No. 2 in the United Kingdom, and its single, "One More Time", was a major club and mainstream hit that nearly topped the UK Singles Chart. The song is well known for being heavily autotuned and compressed. The song and album created a new generation of fans mainly familiar with the second Daft Punk release. The singles "Digital Love" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" were also very successful in the UK and on the United States dance chart. "Digital Love" was subsequently covered by the bands Kodaline and Hellogoodbye. The song "Face to Face" hit No. 1 on the USA club play charts. A 45-minute excerpt from a Daftendirektour performance recorded at Birmingham, UK in 1997 was also released in 2001, titled Alive 1997. The year 2003 saw the release of the feature-length animated film, Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem. Daft Punk produced the film under the supervision of Leiji Matsumoto, who is their childhood hero. The album Daft Club was also released to promote the film. It features a collection of remixes previously made available through an online membership service of the same name. 2004–2007: Human After All In March 2005, Daft Punk released their third album, Human After All, the result of six weeks of writing and recording. Reviews were mixed, with criticism for its repetition and seemingly hasty recording. The singles were "Robot Rock", "Technologic", "Human After All", and "The Prime Time of Your Life". A Daft Punk anthology CD/DVD, Musique Vol. 1 1993–2005, was released on 4 April 2006. It contains music videos for "Robot Rock (Maximum Overdrive)" and "The Prime Time of Your Life" directed by Daft Punk and Tony Gardner, respectively. Daft Punk also released a remix album, Human After All: Remixes. On 21 May 2006, Daft Punk premiered their first directed film, Daft Punk's Electroma, at the Cannes Film Festival sidebar Director's Fortnight. The film does not include Daft Punk's music. Midnight screenings of the film were held in Paris theaters starting from the end of March 2007. Initial public comments have since been positive. The Alive 2006/2007 tour began with a sole United States performance at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California in April 2006. Several festival appearances in Europe followed throughout the summer. Two consecutive performances also took place at the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan, held in Osaka and Chiba City respectively. Daft Punk's final performance of the year occurred in the autumn, when they visited South America and played their second U.S. performance at the Bang! Music Festival in Miami, Florida. In June 2007, the duo resumed touring, beginning with an appearance at the RockNess music festival in the United Kingdom. After further shows and festival performances in Europe, the act returned to North America for a full-fledged eight date tour. This reached many markets for the first time on the trek and included a headline festival slot at Lollapalooza in Chicago. A second leg of shows in October followed, consisting of an appearance at the Vegoose music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada and three shows in Mexico. Daft Punk also mixed and composed much of the music for the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2008 Womenswear Full Show on 7 October 2007. In December 2007, the duo returned to Japan to play a trio of dates. This was followed by a series of special shows in Australia, dubbed "Never Ever Land". The dates featured regular tour stalwarts SebastiAn and Kavinsky and were ultimately the fastest selling Daft Punk-related events to date. The tour eventually culminated in Sydney at the Showground Main Arena. Daft Punk released its second live album titled Alive 2007 on 19 November 2007. It contains the duo's performance in Paris from the Alive 2007 tour. The live version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" from Alive 2007 was released as a single. Olivier Gondry directed a music video for the single that features footage shot by 250 audience members at Daft Punk's Brooklyn appearance at KeySpan Park, Coney Island. 2008–2011: Tron: Legacy Following the Alive 2007 tour, the duo focused on other projects. Daft Punk made a surprise appearance at the 50th Grammy Awards on 10 February 2008. The duo appeared with Kanye West to perform a reworked version of "Stronger" on stage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. For the appearance, Daft Punk used four JazzMutant Lemur controllers. A press release specified that this was the first televised live performance by the duo in their career. Bangalter's wife Élodie Bouchez also attended the event. Daft Punk later stated in an EMI-sponsored live webchat that there would be no tour performances for 2008, and that they would instead focus on new projects. A 2008 interview with Pedro Winter revealed that Daft Punk returned to its Paris studio to work on new material. Winter also stepped down from managing the duo to focus attention on his Ed Banger Records label and his work as Busy P. He stated in a later interview that Daft Punk is working with an unspecified management company in Los Angeles. The duo held its Daft Arts production office at the Jim Henson Studios complex in Hollywood. In 2008, Daft Punk placed 38th in a worldwide official poll of DJ Mag after debuting at position 71 in the year before. On 8 February 2009, Daft Punk won Grammy Awards for Alive 2007 and its single "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". Later in February 2009, a website stated that a "hidden" tour had been set for 2009. An event for 13 February 2009 in Shanghai, China was mentioned in the website. It was later revealed to be a hoax. Representatives of the band announced that Daft Punk had no tour plans for 2009, but stated that the duo was looking forward to performing in China during their next world tour "in 2010 or 2011". The announcement also stated that all of Daft Punk's shows are and would be posted on their official MySpace page, and that the page can therefore be used to verify validity. Daft Punk provided eleven new mixes featuring its music for the video game DJ Hero. The duo also appears in the game as a pair of playable characters, along with a unique venue. The duo appears wearing its Discovery-era helmets and Human After All-era leather attire. Daft Punk's playable likenesses are absent from the sequel DJ Hero 2, which includes a remixed version of the song "Human After All". At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that the duo composed 24 tracks for the film Tron: Legacy. Daft Punk's score was arranged and orchestrated by Joseph Trapanese. The band collaborated with him for two years on the score, from pre-production to completion. The score features an 85-piece orchestra, recorded at AIR Lyndhurst Studios in London. Joseph Kosinski, director of the film, referred to the score as being a mixture of orchestral and electronic elements. The members of Daft Punk also make a cameo appearance as disc jockey programs wearing their trademark robot helmets within the film's virtual world. The soundtrack album of the film was released on 6 December 2010. A deluxe 2-disc edition of the album was also released that includes a poster of the duo from the film. Additional bonus tracks are also available through various online vendors. An official music video for "Derezzed", with a running time of less than two minutes, also premiered on the MTV Networks on the same day the album was released. The video, which features Olivia Wilde as the character Quorra in specially-shot footage, along with images of Daft Punk in Flynn's Arcade, was later made available for purchase from the iTunes Store and included in the DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film. Walt Disney Records released a remix album of the score titled Tron: Legacy Reconfigured on 5 April 2011. In 2010, Daft Punk were admitted into the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an order of merit of France. Bangalter and Homem-Christo were individually awarded the rank of Chevalier (knight). On October of that year, Daft Punk made a surprise guest appearance during the encore of Phoenix's show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. They played a medley of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and "Around the World" before the song segued into Phoenix's song "1901". The duo also included elements of their tracks "Rock'n Roll", "Human After All", as well as one of Bangalter's side projects, "Together". 2011–2015: Random Access Memories Soma Records released a previously unpublished Daft Punk track called "Drive" that was made while the duo was still with Soma Records and recording "Rollin' and Scratchin'" and "Da Funk". The track was included in a twentieth anniversary multi-artist compilation of the Soma label. In October 2011, Daft Punk placed 28th in a "top-100 DJs of 2011" list by DJ Magazine after appearing at position 44 in the year before. On 19 January 2012, Daft Punk ranked No. 2 on Mixmag's Greatest Dance Acts of All Time, with The Prodigy at No. 1 by just a few points. In October 2012, Daft Punk provided a fifteen-minute mix of songs by blues musician Junior Kimbrough for Hedi Slimane's Yves Saint Laurent fashion show. The duo also placed 44th in DJ Magazine's annual Top 100 DJs list. Daft Punk worked on their fourth studio album, Random Access Memories, with musicians including Paul Williams, Chic frontman Nile Rodgers, and Giorgio Moroder. In January 2013, Homem-Christo revealed that Daft Punk was in the process of signing with Sony Music Entertainment through the Columbia Records label, and that the album would have a spring release. A gradual promotional rollout was later launched featuring billboards and television spots, leading to the reveal of the album title and the release date of 21 May 2013. On 3 April, the official Random Access Memories website launched The Collaborators, a series of documentary videos about the album. Later that month, a video preview for the song "Get Lucky" featuring Rodgers and Pharrell Williams was played at the 2013 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The radio edit of the song was released as a digital download single one week later on 19 April 2013. "Get Lucky" became Daft Punk's first UK No. 1 single on 28 April 2013 remaining at number one for 4 weeks (as of 24 May) and the Spotify music streaming website reported that the song is the most-streamed new song in the service's history. At the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Daft Punk debuted a trailer for their single "Lose Yourself to Dance," and presented the award for "Best Female Video" alongside Rodgers and Pharrell. In December, the duo revealed a music video for the song "Instant Crush," directed by Warren Fu and featuring Julian Casablancas. Daft Punk co-produced Kanye West's sixth studio album, Yeezus (2013), creating the tracks "On Sight," "Black Skinhead," "I Am A God," and "Send It Up." "Black Skinhead" was the first track to come from the collaboration, and was composed using drums from Daft Punk's recording sessions for Random Access Memories. For the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, Random Access Memories was awarded the Grammy for Best Dance/Electronica Album, Album of the Year and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, while "Get Lucky" received the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and the Record of the Year. Daft Punk performed at the ceremony with Stevie Wonder, Rodgers, Pharrell Williams as well as Random Access Memories rhythm section players Nathan East, Omar Hakim, Paul Jackson, Jr. and Chris Caswell. The ensemble performed "Get Lucky" before moving into a medley consisting of Chic's "Le Freak" and Stevie Wonder's "Another Star" as well as elements of Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", "Lose Yourself to Dance", and "Around the World". The stage backdrop used for the performance was designed by Daft Arts to resemble a recording studio, incorporating a functioning mixing console operated by Daft Punk. Pharrell later released his second studio album G I R L, in which Daft Punk performed additional vocals for the song "Gust of Wind". On 10 March 2014, an unreleased Daft Punk song called "Computerized" surfaced on the Internet. The song features Jay Z and appears to contain elements of "The Son of Flynn" from the Tron: Legacy soundtrack. In April 2015, Daft Punk appeared in a short tribute to Rodgers as part of a documentary on his life titled Nile Rodgers: From Disco to Daft Punk. In the short clip, the two send a "transmission" to Rodgers with the message: "Dear Nile, We are sending you this transmission to thank you for all your amazing songs. Your music continues to inspire the world... With love, Daft Punk". Later in 2015, a documentary, Daft Punk Unchained, was released. The film covers Daft Punk's music career from the 1990s up to and including their 2014 Grammy appearance. The documentary features interviews with Rodgers, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, and others. On 22 September 2016, Canadian R&B singer The Weeknd released a track, "Starboy", featuring Daft Punk. The song later hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Daft Punk's first number-one song in the U.S. On 17 November, The Weeknd released "I Feel It Coming" which also features Daft Punk, peaking at number four. Both songs appeared on The Weeknd's album Starboy. Throughout the end of 2016, rumors began to surface of a Daft Punk Alive 2017 tour. In September 2016, the rumors led to Pitchfork reporting that Daft Punk had no plans for a future tour. A fan-made website that first appeared on 27 October 2016 featured a blank page with text reading Alive in plain text. Within the website coding were geo-coordinates based in Paris, Los Angeles, London, New York, Tokyo, São Paulo, Ibiza and Indio, the last being the location of Coachella. The website has since been taken down. In February 2017, Daft Punk launched a pop-up shop in Hollywood, California featuring memorabilia, artwork, and a display of the various costumes the duo has worn over the years. The duo also performed with The Weeknd at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards on 12 February 2017. Throughout the years following the Starboy collaborations, Bangalter and Homem-Christo have worked solo as producers appearing on several projects. On 21 June 2017, the Australian band Parcels released the song "Overnight", produced and co-written by Daft Punk. In February 2019, it was announced that Daft Punk will launch an electronic art exhibition at the Philharmonie de Paris featuring various costumes, guitars, and other fixtures based on the theme of the duo's song "Technologic". 2016–present: Recent projects On 22 September 2016, Canadian R&B singer The Weeknd released a track, "Starboy", featuring Daft Punk. The song later hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Daft Punk's first number-one song in the U.S. On 17 November, The Weeknd released "I Feel It Coming" which also features Daft Punk, peaking at number four. Both songs appeared on The Weeknd's album Starboy. Throughout the end of 2016, rumors began to surface of a Daft Punk Alive 2017 tour. In September 2016, the rumors led to Pitchfork reporting that Daft Punk had no plans for a future tour. A fan-made website that first appeared on 27 October 2016 featured a blank page with text reading Alive in plain text. Within the website coding were geo-coordinates based in Paris, Los Angeles, London, New York, Tokyo, São Paulo, Ibiza and Indio, the last being the location of Coachella. The website has since been taken down. In February 2017, Daft Punk launched a pop-up shop in Hollywood, California featuring memorabilia, artwork, and a display of the various costumes the duo has worn over the years. The duo also performed with The Weeknd at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards on 12 February 2017. Throughout the years following the Starboy collaborations, Bangalter and Homem-Christo have worked solo as producers appearing on several projects. On 21 June 2017, the Australian band Parcels released the song "Overnight", produced and co-written by Daft Punk. In February 2019, it was announced that Daft Punk will launch an electronic art exhibition at the Philharmonie de Paris featuring various costumes, guitars, and other fixtures based on the theme of the duo's song "Technologic". Why They Rock: # They are extremely versatile. Their style adapts and evolves in amazing ways throughout their career. From the raw club bangers of Homework to the neo-disco house of Discovery, the rock-based minimalist sounds of Human After All, and all the way to the digital cinematic techno of Tron: Legacy. # They always know how to pay attention to detail. # Their music is very diverse, as they're known for changing their genre of music throughout every album. # The songs are amazing and well-made. # They have an impeccable sense of timing. # They have collaborated with many great artists like Stardust, Le Knight Club, Pharrell Williams and The Weeknd. Bad Qualities: # Their third album Human After All ''received mixed reviews. # They had recently fallen into obscurity after having not made any new materials in a long time. Discography Studio albums * ''Homework (1997) * Discovery (2001) * Human After All (2005) * Random Access Memories (2013) Live albums * Alive 1997 * Alive 2007 Soundtrack albums * Tron: Legacy Remix albums * Daft Club * Human After All: Remixes * Tron: Legacy Reconfigured Compilation albums * Musique Vol. 1 1993–2005 Video albums * D.A.F.T.: A Story About Dogs, Androids, Firemen and Tomatoes * Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem Singles * The New Wave * Da Funk * Indo Silver Club * Around the World * Burnin * Revolution 909 * Aerodynamic * Digital Love * Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger * Face to Face * Robot Rock * Technologic * Human After All * The Prime Time of Your Life * Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Alive 2007) * Derezzed * Get Lucky (featuring Pharrell Williams) * Lose Yourself to Dance (featuring Pharrell Williams) * Doin' It Right (featuring Panda Bear) * Instant Crush (featuring Julian Casablancas) * Give Life Back to Music Category:1990s Category:2000s Category:2010s Category:Artists Category:House Category:Electronic Category:Dance Category:Disco Category:French house Category:Groups